Watch Luke Ritchie performing Shanty live

Acoustic folk-rock singer, Luke Ritchie, has recently posted a new live video for Shanty which is from the singer’s critically-acclaimed debut album, The Water’s Edge, released by Angel Falls Records.

The track, which is one of the more energetic country-blues-inspired songs on the album, has a mellow introduction and a lively aftermath and chorus. The lyrics contain symbolism of love, religion and home: “Calling me back to those brave November souls… Think I’d love you more if you were strong and wrong, than if you were weak and right… Home calls like a longing, a note in the night…” The rest of the songs on the Water’s Edge album have a slower, more relaxed pace to them, with a romantic and nostalgic feel, especially Lighthouse and Off Your Guard.

Ritchie, who studied English Literature at the University of York started writing The Water’s Edge after he set himself the challenge to write a song a week for six months. By the time that Luke had written and home-recorded 26 songs, and posted them online as podcasts, the songs were downloaded 8500 times from around the world, and then the globally acclaimed arranger Nico Muhlly and award-winning producer Paul Savage, who had become fans of his music, offered to compose string music accompaniments for the songs, and produce the album. The album was produced within two weeks in snowy Scotland, and then the album led to a record deal with Angel Falls Records.

Many of Ritchie’s Water’s Edge songs are about the British Isles, his own identity, and the place that he considers home. Luke’s British parents moved from place to place in Europe for work; he was born in Amsterdam, while his sisters were born in France and Spain. He says that he has only just recently started to feel a sense of belonging in the UK: “It made me begin looking in to my family history,” he explains, “Discovering ancestors in Scotland and Ireland. My mum’s side of the family were Irish travelling musicians.” – Which must be where Luke gets his musically-talented genes from!